Jiro Dreams of Sushi: A Case Study on Leadership and Motivation

This case study analyzes the film 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi', focusing on the leadership and motivational aspects demonstrated by Jiro Ono. The study examines how Jiro's goal-setting and expectancy theories contribute to his success. It also compares and contrasts the sushi culture with the American work environment, highlighting cultural differences and adaptations needed. Furthermore, the analysis explores Jiro's leadership style, emphasizing his dedication, discipline, and the impact he has on his employees, concluding that his approach is both rigorous and inspiring, fostering a high-achieving team. The study references the works of Moscato and Pan, providing context and supporting arguments for the analysis.

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Management 386
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Table of Contents
Questions 1..................................................................................................................................................2
Question 2...................................................................................................................................................2
Question 3...................................................................................................................................................2
References...................................................................................................................................................4

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Questions 1
Ans: The motivation theories that could be seen in this film is goal setting and expectancy. Jiro
Ono who is 91 years old is considered to be the greatest master chef in the history. The film Jiro
Dreams of Sushi depicts the life of Jiro Ono, the skills that he possesses and the future of sushi.
The experts of sushi comprise of the theories such as goal setting and expectancy that has been
followed by Jiro and the experts. The film depicts the adaption of the theory of GOAT (Greatest
of all time) as it determines itself to be the greatest among others (Pan et al. 7). It can be seen in
the film that the experts of Sushi do not believe that the son of Jiro could be as great as his father
due to his bias. As per their theory if Jiro's son works as good as his father then he will be
considered better than his father. Jiro is always focused on setting a goal to achieve the target and
expects higher from the members of Sushi.
Question 2
Ans: The Sushi culture is different from the motivation culture of USA. Despite Sushi's progress
in the USA it fundamentally remains different than in Japan. It is because the Sushi meals
originated in Japan now is considered to be an American meal. In most of the places in Japan
considers themselves as sushi bars of American style and it is the same with Japan (Moscato
187). The changes related to the cultural differences that must be made in the USA are the
change in the attitude of the Americans based on religion. The Americans need to be more
formal, must be nationalistic rather than political. The people in America should be more subtle
instead of blunt and direct. They must give importance to the social hierarchy and should possess
collectivist culture.
Question 3
Ans: From the film, it is observed that Jiro is a good leader as his motivation theories and
leadership style are unique and different from others. The film is an inspiration for most of the
leaders and people as Jiro is committed, dedicated and disciplined towards his work. These
qualities bring success to him by gaining more selling and profit. However, he is rigorous or
strict but his leadership style inspires his employees to strive better and work harder to achieve
success. In the end, he gives the entire credit to his team for the success they achieved. As per
Jiro, his job is easy as his team is very efficient and does all the hard work. But as a leader, his

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job is the most difficult one to guide all the employees to do better. It can be seen that he is very
passionate about his work which makes him different from others.

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References
Moscato, Derek. "Cultural congruency in mediated gastrodiplomacy: a qualitative framing
analysis of the US–Japan Sushi Summit." Place Branding and Public Diplomacy14.3
(2018): 187-196.
Pan, Tze-Jen, and Tzung-Cheng Huan. "It is not about Compensation: Resolving Customer
Complaints in Hospitality Management." Trade Tales: Decoding Customers' Stories.
Emerald Publishing Limited, 2017. 7-13.